Suspension systems for bicycles allow significant movement between the front wheel, the rear wheel, and/or the seat with respect to the main bike frame and the handle bar and the pedal assembly supported by the main bike frame. The suspension system thus inhibits transmission of shocks to the rider holding the handle bar and standing on the pedals when the bicycle lands after dropping or jumping.
The term “full suspension bicycle” typically refers to a bicycle having at least a front suspension that allows movement of the front wheel relative to the main frame and a rear suspension that allows movement of the rear wheel relative to the main frame. Certain types of full suspension bicycles (e.g., downhill bikes) are designed to resiliently oppose a significant range of movement between the wheels and the main frame.
Further, certain types of bikes employ dynamically adjustable seat posts that allow the height of the seat relative to the frame to be adjusted while the bicycle is being ridden to accommodate for different riding conditions (e.g., riding uphill or riding downhill).
Traditional bicycle fender systems do not work well with full suspension bicycles because the significant variability of the relative positions of the frame, seat, front wheel, and rear wheel make it difficult to find a location to which the fender assembly can be mounted and not interfere with the movement of the various components of the bicycle.
Further, the position of the rider is also highly variable during the riding of full suspension bicycles. For example, on steep downhill terrain, the rider may move his rear end significantly behind and even below the seat to adjust the center of gravity to accommodate the downhill slope.
And on technical terrain, the rider may need to dismount and remount the bicycle frequently. In particular, the placement of rear fenders can interfere with the dismounting and remounting of the bicycle, or the rider dismounting or remounting the bicycle may kick and break or twist the rear fender.
The need thus exists for fender systems and methods for full suspension bicycles that accommodate the wide range of movement of the various components of the bicycle and of the rider, especially during extreme riding conditions.